


Flowers

by oui_oui_mon_ami



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Minor Character Death, alex breaks the law, and it's kinda canon, and so does john, basically alex's mother is dead, but it happens before the story starts, but it's ok we still love him, forgive me lin, john gardens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-01
Updated: 2017-03-01
Packaged: 2018-09-27 17:59:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10037360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oui_oui_mon_ami/pseuds/oui_oui_mon_ami
Summary: Alex knew that what he was doing was pretty illegal.Based off a Tumblr prompt: “I sometimes steal flowers from your garden on the way to the cemetery but today you caught me and insisted on coming with me to see whether “the girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft” so now I’m in the car trying to think of a way to break it to you that actually we’re going to the cemetery”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Wow two new things posted in one day look at me go :^P
> 
> Thanks to whoever put this prompt on Tumblr and inspired me to write about these two beautiful gay founding fathers

Alex knew that what he was doing was pretty illegal. He did it anyway, and he kept doing it, almost every week, for two reasons.

The first reason was an observation that he had made a few months ago, when he was making his first visit to the cemetery. He had never made that drive before, and he was partly concentrating on not getting lost when a flash of colour had caught his eye. He was passing a perfectly ordinary house, the same size and shape as all of the others surrounding it (something that Alex hated about living in suburbia: there was very little room for individuality), but what had left Alex’s mouth hanging open in awe was the front garden, which was packed with flowers in a rainbow of colours and sizes.

(He missed the next turning and ended up getting lost anyway, but Alex thought that it was worth it. It was a beautiful sight in the greyscale landscape that had become his world since his mother had died. The next week he slipped into the garden and cut himself some tall daisies that he didn’t think would be missed.)

The second reason was that he was sure he would never be caught. He was very careful on the journey to the cemetery: he checked for a car outside the house, any lights left shining through the window, any sign at all that there may be someone in the house who could see him. Then he parked his car a short way down the road and picked flowers from different parts of the garden, strategically picking less prominent ones that wouldn’t be noticed if they went missing. Whoever owned the garden seemed to have a Saturday job, as they never appeared to be there when Alex came on his weekly visits.

The second reason happened to be Alex’s downfall.

It was nearing the end of summer, and the worst days of heat were, thankfully, over. Alex did what he always did: he checked for a car and any lights in the house before parking down the road and walking back up to the garden. He didn’t notice the extra car that was parked across the road. He was too busy choosing where to cut his flowers to notice it, or the quiet clicking of the front door opening. He only looked up when he heard a voice from the porch.

“What are you doing?”

 _Fuck_. Alex stood up, eyes wide with guilt, trying to find a suitable excuse. Normally his quick thinking and smooth talking helped him out in situations like these, but he didn’t think that there would ever be a good reason why he was trespassing and flower stealing. Besides, the young man standing on the porch staring at him in surprise seemed almost too handsome for Alex to even think straight. “Uh…” he said eloquently.

The man cocked his head in confusion. There seemed to be no anger or sarcasm in his expression at all, which took Alex by surprise. “Is there a reason why you’re in my garden and taking my flowers? Or is this just a habit you’ve gotten yourself into?”

Alex blushed in embarrassment. “Um, I’m going somewhere and I… uh… need flowers.” he said hesitantly.

The man’s face immediately brightened with excitement. He reminded Alex of a puppy. Alex found it kind of adorable. “A date?” the man asked.

“Uh… no,” Alex said, but the man was already hopping off the porch and bouncing across the front garden.

“I should have guessed!” the man exclaimed before turning his gaze to the few flowers in Alex’s hands. “We need more flowers,” he decided, and took the kitchen scissors that Alex had brought (he didn’t have anything bigger or more suitable for gardening, okay? He didn’t even have a garden.) to cut some red and pink flowers. When he was done, he handed the bouquet to Alex and ran inside, calling behind him that he would be back in a second. It took him five seconds (not that Alex was counting) to burst back out through the door, a length of ribbon in his hands, He tied the flowers together and arranged them so that they resembled something romantic. It looked so much better than the small, understated bunches that Alex had taken to laying at his mother’s grave. “There!” the man said, beaming proudly at his work. Alex found himself trying to count his freckles. The man’s curly hair was halfway out of its ponytail by now, and framed his face perfectly. “Now we’re ready to go.”

Alex frowned. “We?”

The young man nodded. “I need to ensure that the girl is pretty enough to warrant flower theft,” he explained. “Let’s go!”

And so, Alex wound up driving to the cemetery, trying to find a way to break it to the man – who had introduced himself as John – who he had stolen flowers from that actually no, they were not going to meet a girl. At least not an alive one, anyway. However, John continued to chatter excitedly, about how one of his neighbours, Eliza, had seen Alex in his garden several Saturdays in a row, so John decided to take a day off from his Saturday shift at the hospital and see who the cute guy was who was stealing his flowers. Alex began to blush at that, but thankfully John didn’t notice. Normally Alex was the one doing all the talking, but it was nice to be the listener for once. Especially for John.

The drive to the cemetery was short. Alex wished that it could be longer, firstly because he really didn’t want to face having to explain to John that the “girl” they were going to see was buried six feet underground (and also Alex’s mother), and secondly because John’s voice was really nice to listen to. As they pulled into the car park, John frowned.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“The town cemetery,” Alex said as he got out of the car, trying to act nonchalant.

John climbed out as well, still frowning at Alex. “You’re having a date here? Seems pretty mor- oh.”

Alex walked away from John and briskly crossed the field of gravestones to his mother’s grave. The small headstone read RACHEL FAUCETTE: BELOVED MOTHER AND FRIEND. Alex laid the flowers in front of the headstone and stood in front of it. He was aware of John’s presence a way off – he was watching him from halfway across the cemetery – but he didn’t turn to look at him. Instead, he began to talk, like he always did. He told his mother about his day, the interesting things that had happened to him that week, what the weather had been like, the mundane, arbitrary things. He didn’t talk about anything deep or profound. He didn’t mention how much he missed her. Saying anything like that would have caused him to shatter, and he couldn’t do that. He had promised her that he would be strong. Keep fighting for her.

When he was done, he walked back to John, who was still waiting patiently for him. It was quiet, sombre as they walked, but John broke the silence as they reached the car. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.

Alexander shrugged guiltily. “You seemed so excited, I didn’t want to rain on your parade.”

“Well, the realisation was more like a hurricane.”

Alex snorted at that. “I don’t know… maybe I didn’t tell you because you wouldn’t have wanted to come if I had, and I think I wanted someone else there today. It’s hard sometimes. I’m sorry, I’m not making any sense.”

“No, no, you are,” John said, placing a hand on Alex’s arm. Alex could feel his skin heat up at the contact. “I can’t imagine how difficult it has been for you, but I think I know what you mean by needing someone else. A support system. People you can rely on to be there for you.”

Alex felt the tears behind his eyes then, and he should have felt embarrassed – he was going to cry in front of a total stranger – but something about John made him feel totally comfortable. He wrapped his arms around the taller man and started to cry quietly. He could feel John tense up in surprise before he hugged Alex back, just as tightly. “Thank you for coming,” Alex mumbled into John’s chest.

“You’re very welcome,” John replied.

They pulled away after a few minutes, when Alex had stopped crying enough to be able to see, and they drove back to John’s house in a comfortable silence. John turned to Alex when they stopped. “Could I borrow your scissors really quickly?” he asked.

Alex frowned, confused, but handed them over before getting out of the car himself. John returned with a single pink rose, which he presented to Alex, blushing. Alex still found it adorable. “I find red roses way too tacky, but the flowers themselves are beautiful,” he said. “I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date? With me?”

Alex’s heart leaped and he grinned as he intertwined his fingers with those of John’s free hand. “I would really like that.”

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on tumblr: sunshine-soprano


End file.
